Of Mothers and Sons
by SittingTooClose
Summary: Cornelius is the Father of the Future, but when a woman shows up at his door, he certainly doesn't feel all that different from that twelve year old kid from the orphanage. Wilbur sees Lewis in his father. Franny is worried. Franny/Cornelius
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first story ever, so please be gentle. I will update fairly regularly!

I do not own anything but the plot.

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 **Of Mothers and Sons**

"Ugh, another redo project it looks like."

Cornelius Robinson stood looming over his latest invention trying to figure out where the smoke was coming from this time. Franny would not be happy if they had to call the fire department for a fourth time in six months. But he was so close to getting the product to work! If he could just find out what caused the short...

*Ding Dong*

"Wilbur, honey? Will you get that?" Cornelius heard his wife, Franny, call from downstairs.

That was weird, they weren't expecting anyone, but you never knew who wanted to make some sort of good impression with the "Father of the Future" by showing up to his house with their new invention. Because who wouldn't want that?

Cornelius rolled his eyes while searching blindly for a wrench with his left hand, his right one still probing the top of the machine.

He heard the door to his lab creak open.

He heard a strained, "Cornelius?" come from the doorway. Franny.

Cornelius whipped around, nearly burning his hand on a metal rod in the process, and took in the sight of his wife.

The expression on her face was somewhere between upset, angry, and confused. His brow furrowed. Who could it have been at the door to make his normally bold and cheery wife that upset?

Cornelius stood up straight and faced her after making sure his hands were somewhat clear of motor oil. He was halfway to her when he noticed something in her hands. Even more concerned now, he continued over to Franny and placed his hands on her arms.

"Fran?" He tried to catch her eyes with his, but she was staring down at what looked like to be a thick piece of paper. "What's wrong? Who was at the door?"

Franny took a deep breath and handed him the paper.

"It was a woman… claiming to be your mother."

Cornelius felt himself run cold. His heart skipping a beat as he took the paper from his wife's hands.

"And unlike the others that pretended to be your biological mother, she had this."

Cornelius looked down and unrolled the paper. It was in a tight coil from Franny wringing it in her hands. He glanced down at the paper, then back up to Franny.

It was a birth certificate. His birth certificate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello!**

 **Thanks to the people who Reviewed and Favorited this story! It means a lot to me:)**

 **This chapter is significantly longer than the first, I plan on most of the chapters being about this long in the future.**

 **I own nothing but the plot.**

 **Chapter Two**

Cornelius wouldn't call himself a private person. His picture had been plastered across multiple _TIME_ magazines over the years, due to his company growing into the most innovative agency across the board. However, to call those biographies centered on him accurate would be only partially true. His sixth street orphanage origin story was well-known. Or, the basics were. Everyone loved the inspiring story of Lewis, even going as far as to petition the city to make his old orphanage a historical landmark. Cornelius thought this was more than a little ironic, years after the orphanage had closed and the kids didn't depend on it anymore, _that_ was when the community decided they cared about it.

No, Cornelius wouldn't say he was a private person when it came to his company or his accomplishments. But when it came to important things, to deep things, he was extremely private.

What none of the biographies or journals included was exactly how many failed adoptions Lewis went through. How he never fit in anywhere. How he and his fellow orphans had to compete for everything from food to parents. They never seemed to grasp how utterly alone Lewis had felt everyday back then. How crushing every failed interview was on his heart. How much he craved what every other kid seemed to have. A family.

Most of those things were only known by a select few people. Franny was the only person who knew all of them. Knew all of _him_ , both Lewis and Cornelius equally. Franny knew him better than anyone ever had, she knew him first after all, before any Robinson.

Cornelius kept his past fears invisible to others. He didn't want pity or questions. He wanted to move forward, so he made sure to keep them deep down inside, only coming out at night in the dark of his and Franny's bedroom, Franny's arms wrapped around him and her eyes searching his, her comforting words soothing all his fears.

Woman had shown up at his door a few times before, claiming to be his real mother. The first time it happened Cornelius had been shocked and offended. It was obvious just by looking at that first woman that she was just trying to hustle him. The fact that she only looked be be about ten years older than he had been was the biggest give away.

Cornelius always felt beyond violated by these woman. He could feel the childhood loneliness creeping up the back of his neck each time. All his fears and lost hopes came rushing back to him while talking to them. He felt more like Lewis than Cornelius during these conversations and he hated it. They didn't even understand what they were doing, and yet their attempted deception always lead to late nights and staying up talking with Franny over too many cups of coffee, his brain going a mile a minute trying to move past these woman. What kind of person would pretend to be something as significant as an orphan's long-lost mother? He never understood it… turns out money and fame can motivate people to do pretty much anything.

This woman was different though, she had proof. As Cornelius stared down at _his_ birth certificate, he didn't know what to think. For the first time his brain was not computing. He had seen schematics for some of the most amazing technology: flying cars, self constructing building, his own time machine for crying out loud. But this was one document that he was so sure he was never going to see.

He looked for anything in the document that could prove it to be fake, but came up with nothing. He scanned the names printed in neat script. Doctor's name, his name, hospital name… mothers name. Her name was Theresa. Huh. Back when he was a child he had named his mother once. He imagined her first name being something like Ruth or Ruthy. Just a little kids imagination making things up, it made her feel more real at the time. Now, though, he could actually feel her becoming more solid in his mind. Not so much an abstract idea. She was real. Her name was Theresa Anthonio. She gave birth to Lewis Anthonio on April 13, 1995. She was _real._ She was _here._ In his _house._

He didn't know how long he was staring at the paper. His mind felt sluggish and his insides were churning. If his mind was working he might have been able to determine whether this was because of fear or some sort of strange excitement.

Cornelius was faintly aware of hands on his. Franny's soft thumb rubbing his calloused hands, which were still gripping the certificate. Her soft gestures were what brought him out of his trance.

He looked up at Franny, searching for something. An opinion on what to do maybe? Where did they go from here? How do you address someone who has been missing for forty years?

"Fran… I…" Cornelius started only to be interrupted by another knock at the lab door.

Wilbur popped his head in this time, his cowlick, olive skin, and thin frame mirroring his mother so much Cornelius felt like he was having deja-vú to just moments before with Franny.

Wilbur spotted his parents and sidestepped into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He had a confused look on his face, and seemed to either not care that he was interrupting something or he genuinely did not notice the concerned looks on his parents faces.

"Sooo I know we talked about adopting that Goob guy."

Wilbur leaned his back on the door and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And there was that thing with trying to adopt Lewis by accident, but I didn't think we were just picking people off the street and making them Robinson's."

Cornelius saw Franny's brow crease in confusion.

"Wilbur, now is not the best time to be speaking in riddles." Franny lightly shook her head at her son, exasperated.

"There's some lady downstairs that called me a cute muffin." Wilbur's nose scrunched up as his lip curled. "A _muffin_ , does that even mean? Who is she?"

Franny looked to Cornelius, she didn't want to say anything about Theresa in case Cornelius chose not to speak with her.

Wilbur was finally catching on to the tension in the room. He became more wary as he stepped closer to his parents. He looked from Franny to Cornelius.

"Dad? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Wilbur looked like he was considering something for a second.

"I mean, that would be awesome if you really did see a ghost, because I think your new self-vacuum prototype could actually live up to some real _Ghostbusters_ action."

Franny rolled her eyes at Wilbur's antics before gesturing him to come closer. Wilbur compiled and cautiously came to stand beside Cornelius.

"Seriously, what's going on, dad?"

Cornelius took a breath. _That. Is an excellent question._ He thought to himself.

"I think it's finally time to meet my mother."

 **Next chapter we get to finally meet Theresa. Is she just trying to get her fifteen minutes of fame, or does she really want to reconnect? we will see...**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, but here it is, Cornelius finally gets to meet his mother! Enjoy.**

 **Chapter Three:**

Franny's hand in his was like an anchor to Cornelius, he tried focusing on the solid feeling of his fingers entwined with Franny as they walked down the last hallway leading to the living room. He had no idea what he was going to say to this woman. Hello? Where have you been? Does he start with a handshake or a hug? Maybe not a hug…

Cornelius stopped just short of the corner to the living room. He shot a glance to Wilbur. His son gave him a thumbs up accompanied by a lopsided, hesitant smile. Franny turned her husband's face toward her.

"If you need support we will be right here the whole time."

Cornelius gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand before he let go of her.

 _Well… here we go, Lewis._ He thought before turning that final corner into the living area.

His mother looked slightly different than he imagined. A little shorter than he thought, with more grey in her hair than auburn at this point. But she definitely looked to be the same person he saw on the steps all those years ago.

As soon as she saw Cornelius come around the corner, she had stood up slowly. Like she was trying not to move too fast out of fear she might scare him off. As much as Cornelius wanted to think he wouldn't have been startled, he knew he probably would have internally freaked out if his birth mother suddenly stood up and loudly greeted him. So one point in Theresa's favor, he supposed.

Cornelius stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Hi… Uh, Hello. I'm uh Cornel- Lewis, I'm Lewis." _Smooth. Real smooth, Neil._ Cornelius thought to himself as he internally cringed.

Theresa just chuckled a bit, Cornelius could see she was trying extremely hard not to cry. Her eyes were glassy as she stepped toward him and held out her hand.

"Hello Lewis, my name is Theresa." Cornelius took her hand and shook it slowly, marveling in the fact that he was actually touching his mother. "I've wanted to meet you for a very _very_ long time."

Cornelius could feel his chest tightening. He let go of her hand and coughed, turning his face away from her.

"Yeah well, I _waited_ for you for a very long time…" Cornelius could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He could feel his resolve beginning to break. "I waited so long for you. Thirteen years in an orphanage, to be exact." His chest was painful at this point. He wiped at his eyes discreetly.

There was a quiet sob in the direction Theresa was in, but Cornelius refused to turn to her quite yet.

"Where were you?" His voice sounded foreign to him, quiet and unsure. He wasn't sure if she even heard his question at first.

Then there was a hand at his back. Soft and comforting, like a mother's is supposed to be. He used to dream of that, before Lucille and Bud, of having someone to comfort him when he was scared or hurt. But now it felt like her hand was burning into his back, like it was leaving a mark on his skin.

"I am _so_ sorry, Lewis." He felt her hand pull away, he was sure he would have a scar there later, at least in his mind he would.

Cornelius finally turned around at that.

Theresa was fully crying now, tears streamed down her cheeks to fall on the collar of the blouse she was wearing. She looked pained. She looked like how Cornelius felt on the inside.

"I just want to know why." Cornelius looked down at her, silently willing her to give him some sort of explanations. Something that would justify her abandoning her baby. He didn't know if there was anything she could that would make it okay in his mind, but he needed to hear it.

Theresa bit her bottom lip and raised her head until she caught Cornelius' eyes. She motioned for Cornelius to sit down, declined, preferring to keep standing out of trepidation. Theresa took a deep breath and sat down, angling herself toward him.

"I was twenty-one when you were born." She paused to clear her throat. "The man I was involved with at the time, your father, was named Jared."

Cornelius' brow furrowed as he listened, but said nothing, prompting her to continue.

"He was a businessman in the city, quite a few years older than me. We had met at a supermarket a year and a half before you were born."

"I had never really thought about starting a family, I thought since I was so young at the time that I would have a long while before I had to start considering that possibility."

Theresa nervously rubbed her hands together, and glanced away from Cornelius before continuing.

"Then I got pregnant out of the blue, and I was conflicted. On one hand, I loved the idea of a life growing inside of me. But on the other, I didn't want to give up the life Jared and I were living."

Cornelius bristled slightly at that.

"You would give up your child for a lifestyle?"

He wouldn't give Wilbur up for anything. How selfish could a person be?

Theresa flinched slightly at that. Her lips pressing into a thin line.

"Not for a lifestyle." She wrinkled her nose like she was disgusted at the idea. "For someone I thought, at the time, was the love of my life."

Cornelius rolled his eyes and sat down. He put his head in his hands.

"Keep going."

Another tear rolled down her cheek as she continued.

"When I told Jared I was pregnant he didn't yell or get angry. He was actually very calm when I told him. He explained that he couldn't care for a baby right then, he brought up the fact that neither of us had even ever discussed having children."

"He was extremely work driven, and we had only been together for about seven months at the time. When he brought up adoption, I… I agreed."

Cornelius' chest was getting tight again, but not out of the need to cry this time. He felt like he wanted to scream. Lewis _had_ been right all those years ago on the orphanage roof. His own mother hadn't even wanted him. He could faintly hear Theresa beginning to speak again.

"We continued on with our lives as normal from that point on. Jared began to become more focused on work the more I began to show. And the more I began to show, the more I conflicted I was about the adoption."

"We had a huge fight one night before bed. He screamed at me that he never wanted children, that he wouldn't take care of it, that he had a life he needed to maintain."

"I couldn't handle the arguing anymore, so we stopped talking about it. Then we stopped talking altogether."

Theresa screwed her eyes shut in an effort to keep the tears at bay.

"By the time you arrived, our relationship was nothing but obligational. He took me to the hospital, signed some paperwork, then took me home when I was discharged. We officially broke it off the next day."

Theresa looked up at Cornelius, pleading with him with her eyes to understand.

"I was twenty-one, alone, with nowhere to go. I couldn't raise you. So I went to a local orphanage in the city one night… and said goodbye."

Theresa moved closer to Cornelius from where she sat on the couch.

"I know you must hate me, but I need you to know that I have regretted giving you up everyday of my life since then."

Cornelius could feel his eyes burning again, unable to stop them.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me, Lewis. I'm asking you to give me a second chance to be in your life. Even if that means I can only write letters or see you once a year, I'll take anything you are willing to give, as long as I can know you even a little bit, I'll be happy."

Cornelius knew this plea wasn't to him alone, it was to Lewis as well. Lewis who was screaming from inside of him to give her a chance, who knew that sometimes second chances could be all someone needs to make their life whole again.

Cornelius slowly put his hands on his mothers.

"I won't lie and say this won't be difficult for me at times, and I do have some rules, but… i suppose everyone deserves a second chance."

Maybe he had just made the wrong decision. He could regret this moment for the rest of his life. But what sense did it make to keep dwelling on past mistakes? Cornelius' life started really changing for the better when he began _moving forward_. It was time to try and move on and repair what pieces were left.

Cornelius looked up from their hands to take in Theresa's face.

Theresa looked like she had just been given the world. She had tears streaming down her face and a tearful smile as she leaned forward with her arms outstretched. Cornelius leaned forward hesitantly as well and placed a hand on her back. They settled into an only semi-awkward hug.

Cornelius didn't know how long Theresa would stay in his life, but there was an ever growing part of him that hoped that maybe his mother would stay for a while.

 **A/N:**

 **Well there you have it! I hope I did this scene justice, it was a tad tricky to write. Tell me what you think and if I should do another chapter or end it here.**

 **Please Review!**


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